What if Ellie didn't make it alive through the apocalypse and she was, instead, part of the infected?
The infected in The Last of Us is truly a sight to behold. Once normal, average humans, the Cordyceps Brain Infection takes its toll by turning them into manic and disfigured creatures with only one desire and that's to munch on flesh.
As you will probably know, Ellie from The Last of Us, is immune to the deadly virus. We found out in the first game that she had been bit by an infected but weeks later and still bearing the bite mark, she remained unaffected.
This realisation not only shaped Ellie as a person where she felt guilt for being immune while everyone died around her but also how lonely the world was for her, leading her to develop an acute fear of ending up without anyone.
But imagine, for a moment, that Ellie wasn't immune and she wound up like the rest of the clickers and infected, stumbling around the streets and waiting in the dark for her next meal. That's exactly what one artist did when they recreated an infected Ellie in one of their sketches.
Reddit user and artist babuchabri has captured Ellie in a piece of fan art where she has turned and is almost unrecognisable. With the trademark fungus sprouting from her head and those creepy, milky eyes, we see her devastated by the Cordyceps virus.
Thankfully, Ellie can't turn as that would have made for a rather boring and short game and also, in turn, The Last of Us Part 2 would never have seen the light of day. But it's certainly an interesting viewpoint that babuchabri has crafted so well.
If you'd like to play The Last of Us Part 2 in a stunning framerate target of 30 FPS or 60 FPS on the PS5, an update is now live. As for The Last of Us HBO series, filming will begin this July with the hopes of coming to an end in June next year.